The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations is more than simply a collection of words people have spoken. It's a summary of the best of our spoken and written language - the Greek and Latin authors, Dante, The Bible, Shakespeare, the English Poets, Winston Churchill, and just about every other essential literary or historical work of the last two thousand years. In a sense, the ODQ is not so much a collection of famous sayings as it is a single volume summary of western literature you can use to track down a line from a poem or novel as well as a phrase from a famous speech. This is an essential reference work for anyone interested in literature or history and should be part of any home library alongside such frequently used books as a dictionary or encyclopedia.